Korea, ranked 21st in the world, were the presumed underdogs against the 11th-ranked Dominicans but they wrote a different script with a straight-sets win

Osaka, Japan, October 30, 2010 – Korea improved to 2-0 with a straight-sets (29-27, 25-23, 25-20) victory over the Dominican Republic on the second day of Pool D play at the FIVB Women's World Championship at Osaka Municipal City Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Korea, ranked 21st in the world, were the presumed underdogs against the 11th-ranked Dominicans, but they certainly did not play like it. The Koreans, led by Yeon-Koung Kim, again displayed good organisation and teamwork, and Kim led their scoring with 25 points (23 on attack) while Hyo-Jin Yang added another 10 (six on blocks). Prisilla Rivera finished as the 21-point leading scorer for the Dominican Republic (0-2) but her team committed 22 errors compared with just 12 by their opponents.

The Dominicans took a 16-12 lead into the Second Technical Timeout (STT) in the first set but Korea closed to within one point (23-22) and after calling a timeout they moved in front. Although they failed to close out the set with their first two chances, they did so with the third, an ace. Rivera scored 14 points (12 on attack) in the set.

The second set was intensely fought with several good rallies. The Dominicans led 18-16 and seemed to have the edge, but as in the first set the Asian team came back to take a 21-20 lead. Marcos Kwiek's side fought back to make it 23-all on a spike by Rivera, but the Koreans took the set on a nice tip by Yang.

Korea got their noses in front in the third set, leading 16-11 at the STT. The Dominicans moved within three points at 22-19, but the Koreans closed the door to take the match. Sam-Ryong Park’s side next play China on Sunday, while the Dominican Republic meet Turkey.